ken: [OE] Once a widespread verb throughout English, ken is now restricted largely to Scotland, having taken over the semantic territory elsewhere monopolized by know. In Old English it actually meant not ‘know’ but ‘make known’; it was the causative version of cunnan ‘know’ (ancestor of modern English can). Its relatives in other Germanic languages made the change from ‘make known’ to ‘know’ early – hence German kennen ‘know’, for example In the case of English ken, the impetus is thought to have come from Old Norse kenna ‘know’. The derived noun ken, as in ‘beyond one’s ken’, dates from the 16th century. => can
ken (v.)
"to know," Scottish dialect, from Old English cennan "make known, declare, acknowledge" (in late Old English also "to know"), originally "make to know," causative of cunnan "to become acquainted with, to know" (see can (v.)). Cognate with German kennen, Danish kjende, Swedish känna. Related: Kenned; kenning.
ken (n.2)
"house where thieves meet," 1560s, vagabonds' slang, probably a shortening of kennel.
ken (n.1)
"range of sight," 1580s, a nautical abbreviation of kenning.
实用例句
1. "I know, I know," said Ken, grumpily, without looking up.
“我知道，我知道，”肯气呼呼地说，连头都没有抬。来自柯林斯例句
2. "Go and have a word with her, Ken," Webb instructed.
